Midoriya hummed quietly to himself as he walked through the surprisingly vacant U.A. halls. He had been released home the day previous after he had met a detective and friend of All Might's called Tsukauchi who had come to take his statement over the USJ event.
It hadn't taken him long to explain his story and finally be dismissed home by Recovery Girl. He had wanted to go see his classmates as they had just gotten back themselves but the nurse had been adamant he return home and get some rest, so he hadn't had the opportunity.
His mother of course had been a scared, nervous wreck as soon as he got back, holding him tight and crying into his shoulders as he comforted her. He also couldn't help but notice that she had made an unreasonably large amount of Katsudon, his favourite meal filling him with a small amount of guilt. And hunger. Mainly hunger.
Now though, he was back and he was early, having woken up rather early and being in a rush to get ready, excited to finally see his classmates again.
He thought more people would be hanging about at this time but perhaps they all just were in their classes. Either way, he wasn't complaining as it allowed him to make good time to the 1-A classroom, as the ever intimidating giant door stared him down.
With a calming breathe, he pulled it open and chatter ceased once the classes eyes fell on him. To his surprise only Todoroki, Bakugou and Kaminari were missing.
"MIDORI!"
"IZUKU!"
Before he could even resister what was happening, his body was rattled as multiple girls barrelled into him. Ochaco wrapped her arms around his waist, colliding her head with his chest while Mina got him by the neck pressing into his side.
A few seconds later Asui also came over, wrapping him in a much lighter hug with an adorable happy croak. The remaining three girls of the class just stood off to the side with amused and relieved smiles.
"H-hey guys…"
"Good to see you've recovered, Izuku." Momo just said with a smile, before her own eyes widened. "Ah, drat. That's going to trip me up."
"Welcome to the club. Ribbit." Tsuyu said, her normally stoic face taking on a slight grin. The greenette in her grasp laughed lightly, as the girls holding him finally started to loosen their grip (though Mina didn't actually let go). "Though seeing as we all did just go through the USJ together..."
"It's fine. Nothing to help it, right?" He chuckled, waving it away as the girls finally started to move away from him. Iida gave him a nod to assure he was ok which he returned and he could of sworn Mineta was glaring at him.
"Why does he get to have all the girls hugging him?" The purple haired teen asked with a dark scowl, only for Sero to roll his eyes beside him.
"Because they're actually friends and he was injured. Not that hard to figure out man." The tape teen deadpanned, before meeting the smaller teen's gaze. "Don't you go getting ideas."
"But-"
"Don't. One bone breaker in the class is enough."
"I'd prefer zero." A new voice spoke up, pulling all eyes to the front of the class where Aizawa was walking in with the three missing students just ahead of him. His body was covered head to toe in bandages, causing many worried glances to be thrown his way.
"Uh, are you sure you are alright mister Aizawa? Ribbit." The frog girl of the class asked, her tone sounding somewhat guilty and making the man sigh.
"It's neither yours or Midoriya's fault what happened Asui. And I will be fine, regardless of what the old lady says." He brushed away, as he moved to the podium at the front of the class. "Now, all of you sit down and be quiet. I have an important announcement to make."
Everyone complied quickly, hurrying into their seats. The fusion teen heard Ashido whine lightly in his ear at being split away but still she obeyed, and once they were all seated their homeroom teacher began.
"As I'm sure you all know, around the start of the school year we host an event called the sports festival. There was a bit of a debate on whether or not to still go on with it this year among the teachers but ultimately it had been decided we must show that this attack has done nothing to break U.A's resolve. You will have two weeks to prepare for the festival from today."
Exited murmuring broke out among the class, but a still harsh glare from Aizawa got them all to quieten down before he suddenly let out an irritated hiss. "Damn dry eye… Anyways, for anyone who doesn't know somehow, the sports festival consists of three random events, though typically there is one free-for-all event, one team event and one One-On-One event. These can be anything so don't slack off in preparing if you want to win. Perform well, and you might even draw the attention of pro's looking for internships. We can discuss more of the intricate details later. Other than that, the only real bit of news I have for you is your hero class today will be another rescue exercise now you are all back to make up for lost time."
"But sir, shouldn't the USJ still be under repair?!" Iida asked, hand flying into the air so fast Midoriya wondered if the teen had gotten close to breaking the sound barrier.
"Correct. This is not a replacement for that lesson, just a substitution until we can go back. You will be learning the basics of how to handle rescuing people following a disaster within the city. I'll tell you more after lunch, when it's time for said lesson. Now, I hope you are all ready for your first class."
"YES SIR!"
From his seat near the back, Midoriya smiled nervously. Hopefully this exercise wouldn't be hijacked as well and he could just enjoy the class he wanted to come here for.
Midoriya's emerald orbs scanned over his fellow male classmates as he pulled out his suitcase with his costume. Specifically his eyes trailed over to Todoroki, as a frown appeared on the fusion teen's face.
"I was feeling his pain."
He sighed as he saw the heterochromatic teen hold his shirt in a way that seemed to deliberately cover his body from the others. The greenette's frown deepened as he recognized the move, as he did it himself in these rooms to hide his own bruises and scars from their classmates.
'I should talk to him. I need to. Whatever it was must be something pretty bad.' His natural inclination towards empathy and his need to help others were not making this any easier but nor was the rest of his brain which opposed to the idea. 'It's not my business. It's probably nothing, or maybe he's just not a good fusion candidate. No, stop thinking like that! He-'
"MINETA, GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Iida suddenly commanded harshly, drawing the fusion teen's attention to the tall and short teens. He sighed once he realized why Iida had the outburst, as he saw Mineta kneeling on the bench right near a hole in the wall.
"No way! Now's my chance some upperclassman has left to me! I can finally get to see-"
The greenette suddenly felt a major sense of discomfort and disgust, which he could recognize as the girl's he'd fused with emotions. That in turn made him himself pretty upset as he hurried forward.
"Nothing." Izuku interrupted, harshly slamming his hand over the hole with an uncharacteristically harsh glare. Some of the other boy's blinked in surprise but Mineta didn't concede defeat just yet.
"Oh come on Midoriya! Think about it, dude. In the room next door is-"
"The majority of people I've connected with most since coming here and most of my closest friends. Upset them, and you upset me, ok?" He asked, not really trying to sound threatening as much as just making a point but it still seemed to do the trick.
Maybe because Izuku could literally punt the pervert to the moon if he wanted to. Either way he scampered away and didn't even try to come back as Midoriya stood guard over the hole while getting changed himself.
As he pulled up the zipper on his jumpsuit, he noticed a sudden movement out the corner of his eyes and turned expecting to have to pull Mineta way. Instead though it turned out to be one of Jirou's earphone jacks that had flew through the hole and had looped around itself in a way that formed something of a heart shape.
The greenette smiled softly as he gave it a small tap, acknowledging he got her message and watching it disappear away. He finally pulled on his metal mask and once Mineta had left the room, he followed suite.
After a couple of moments, they walked into the observation room where Aizawa stood waiting at the computer. As soon as Midoriya walked in he got yet more albeit shorter hugs from some of the girls. (Not that he was complaining.)
Once everyone was present, Aizawa faced them all with two large boxes before him. "Alright, like I said this is just a substitution class to make up for the USJ, not a replacement for what you were meant to learn there. All Might is still recovering from his fight with Nomu, per Recovery Girl's orders, so I'll be overseeing this lesson today."
He sighed, gesturing with his head and eyes to the first box before him.
"The exercise is simple. First, like in your first training exercise, you will pick out balls with letters on them determine which team your own. Also like that exercise, each team will be comprised of two people each." He then nodded towards the second box. "You will also all pick a number out this box. Whoever is selected will play the role of a victim in the city who will go in first. The exercise itself will involve the heroes going into the city after the victims, and locating them and bringing them to safety. This event won't be scored in any way, as mistakes will more than likely be made. Think of this as a way to test your knowledge and common sense. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" The class chorused, nodding their heads in understanding before they all walked forward and began taking out the balls. Midoriya was one of the last to reach in, pulling out a C and a 2.
Aizawa turned, struggling a bit with his bound hands to press something on the computer. Asui looked like she was about to offer assistance when suddenly a display somewhat similar to a roulette started going.
On the top, it suddenly stopped and displayed which team would be going first. Team C.
"Oh, that's me!" Mina said excitedly, looking around for who she would be partnered with. Izuku's own smile became blinding as he held up his own ball to show her, which she grinned back at. "Woo-hoo!"
"Calm down, Ashido or I'll put you with someone else." Aizawa said, but if Midoriya didn't know better he could of sworn there was an almost teasing tone to it.
The numbers were decided next, one by one as four were selected.
11.
"Aw man." Sero sighed.
3.
"Well, could be fun." Kirishima shrugged.
13.
"Drat!" Uraraka exclaimed, gripping her fists tighter.
17.
Jirou just hummed in acknowledgement that it was her who was picked.
"Alright. Victims, follow me inside. Team C, go wait at the entrance until you're told to start."
The two curly haired teen's nodded as they walked off to where they were told, while Aizawa lead the other students in an opposite direction to some other entrance so they couldn't get any clues to their locations.
Almost as soon as they were left alone, Mina burst as she began to hop on the spot in an adorable display of excitement. "Alright! Finally paired together!"
"It's not even been a month." Midoriya laughed as he pointed out, blushing at the girl's excitement to be partnered with him.
"I mean, yeah but who knows how often it will be. Plus it's nice to spend some time together aside from walking home." She said without thought, as the two finally stopped at a door.
"O-oh. W-well I'm not a-actually doing anything u-usually so if you wanted to do something…" He shook his head before she could respond to his offer, feeling like he was just making himself look like an idiot. "We can talk about that l-later. We need to make a plan."
"Right! I've been so excited to finally fuse!" She said, pulling her fists to her chest in excitement and Midoriya physically hurt at having to disappoint her but…
"No. sorry, but if we've got to find them then we'd be better splitting up and trying to cover some ground." He pointed out, causing the girl to deflate as she pouted. What he didn't tell her is he was also a little worried about fusing with her, in case something happened like Todoroki.
He knew it was incredibly unlikely, but he couldn't shake the thought from his head. Unlike Todoroki who he barely knew, Mina was his actual friend and experiencing that from someone like her… he doubted he could handle it.
"Aww…. I guess your right." She conceded with a frown. "Stupid logistics."
"Hey, and that means you won't have me dragging you down anyways." He shrugged. "I'd probably just get in the way if we fused."
Suddenly pink arms wrapped around his neck for the third time that day, but this time they were much more gentle as she lightly batted his head. "Hey, no. You'd be fine. If anything I'd be the one dragging down your smarts."
Izuku went to argue but before he could…
"Team C, begin!"
"We… we can talk about that later." He said, not liking having to shelf the issue but knowing Aizawa wouldn't take 'personal issues' as an excuse. "You should skate around, you can move much faster than me that way and do more general checks while I do more in-depth checks."
"Right, you got it boss!"
With that, the two stepped inside the city.